Electrical connector with an element which positions the connection pins

ABSTRACT

An electrical connector, comprising a housing of electrically insulating material. The connector is provided with a number of contact elements of electrically conducting material, each with a contact end for contacting a further connector and an L-shaped connection pin for mounting on a printed circuit board. The connection pins consist of a fixed leg which at one end is immovably connected to the contact element and a free leg running at right angles to the fixed leg. The connector is also provided with a positioning element of electrically insulating material for holding the connection pins in the correct position. One side of the positioning element adjoins the connection pin output side. The fixed legs of the connection pins run through the bores of the positioning element, which is provided with a bending anvil for bending the connection pins to an L-shape.

The invention relates to an electrical connector, comprising a housingof electrically insulating material with a connection side and a contactside, and provided with a number of contact elements of electricallyconducting material accommodated in channels and, each with a contactend situated at the contact side of the housing, for contacting afurther connector. and a connection end provided with an L-shapedconnection pin, having a fixed leg fixed to the connection end of thecontact element extending from the connection pin output side of thehousing lying opposite the contact side, a bend and a free leg formounting on a printed circuit board substantially perpendicular to thefixed leg and extending to beyond the connection side of the housingrunning at right angles to the connection pin output side, andcomprising a bending anvil having a curved bending face for bending theconnection pins to an L-shape.

So-called rectangular connectors, i.e. connectors with rectangularconnection pins, are often asked for by consumers, in particularconnectors with a small pitch distance. This makes it difficult tomaintain the correct positions of the parts of the connection pins overthe entire length of the connectors not only during manufacture, butalso during packaging and transportation, in order to permit correctpositioning of the soldering ends of the connection pins relative toholes in a printed circuit board. Additional complications are thecurvature of the printed circuit board, and the correct position of thesoldering ends of the connection pins, in particular when there is asmall pitch distance, which is, of course, associated with holes ofsmall diameter.

Another problem encountered in the production of the above-mentionedconnectors with small pitch distance is accurate bending of theconnection pins at right angles, in order to achieve the correctposition of the soldering ends of the connection pins here.

In this connection it is observed that the invention pertains to aright-angle connector for miniaturized connector for high I/Oapplications. The right-angle tail is an extension of the terminalcontact, and is of thin-stock (rectangular 0.35×0.15 mm width:thickness) material. By virtue of the close mutual spacings of tails1.27×1.27 mm), end due to its slender configurations, without additionalmeans such tails can be skew With large true-position in accuracy ofpin-tip with respect to the theoretical 1.27×1.27 mm raster, even beforethe 90° bending. This situation becomes more aggravated after the bend.Such miniature connectors due to the delicate tails, results inin-advertent problems during placement on PC Boards.

Right-angle connectors are known from the U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,112,234 and5,032,085 but in contrast to present invention these prior art referencepertain to relatively thick-stock material with round cross-section oftail. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,864 seems to pertain to connectorsslightly corresponding to the connector of the invention. However, allthe tails known from the prior art references are un-supported and freestanding in air in the area of 90° bend zone.

The object of the invention is to provide an electrical connector of thetype mentioned in the preamble, in which the above-mentioned problemsare avoided and the connection pins can be bent in a simple and accurateway at such a right angle that the correct position of the connectionends of the connection pins is maintained even after the bending actionand during transport.

Another aim of the inventor was to facilitate the fitting of theconnector on printed circuit boards.

This object and aim are achieved according to the invention through thefact that the bending anvil is separated from the connector housing andis provided with a positioning element of electrically insulatingmaterial between the connection pin output side and the bending anvil,said positioning element has bores extending perpendicular to the planeof the connection pin output side of the connector housing foraccommodating and supporting the fixed legs of the connection pins inall of its transverse directions during the bending operation; that thebores merge into the respective curved bending faces of the anvil suchthat the bore openings are immediately adjacent to the beginning of thecorresponding curved bending faces; that the opposite bore openings aretappered and that the positioning element is provided with aligning andpositioning means for aligning it to the connector housing.

Electrical connectors provided with a positioning element ofelectrically insulating material surrounding the connection pins forholding them in position are known per se in practice, and are oftencalled "wafer" in the trade literature.

In practice two types of positioning elements surrounding the connectionpins of a connector can be distinguished, viz. elements whichessentially surround the connection ends of the connection pins, andelements extending between the connection pins over the entireconnection side of the connector.

Elements of the first-mentioned type are known from U.S. Pat. No.4,686,607, and their purpose is essentially to prevent deviations in thepredetermined mutual pitch distance between the connection ends, e.g. asa result of bending thereof, during transportation or assembly of theconnector, in order to facilitate the electrical connection of theconnection ends of the pins in correspondingly situated apertures and/orto connection faces on a printed circuit board, which is advantageous inparticular in the case of connectors with a large number of contactelements and in the case of mechanical mounting by means of e.g. anassembly robot.

The elements of the second type are known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,772,and provide not only the desired positioning of the connection ends ofthe connection pins, but also electrical and mechanical protection ofthe connection pins, so that e.g. short-circuiting between individuelconnection pins is effectively prevented. Accidental contact of one ormore connection pins can also be prevented effectively in this way. Itwill be clear that the elements of the second type are larger in sizethan the elements of the above-described first type. The elements of thesecond type can also be used to insert the contact elements into thehousing.

In order to guarantee optimum positioning of the connection ends of theconnection pins, it is advantageous to Keep the element as close aspossible to the ends of the connection pins during transportation andassembly of the connectors. For mounting on a printed circuit board, theelement must then be slid up along the connection ends, so that it testson the board. The connection ends are then free for connection thereofto the corresponding connection faces of the printed circuit board.

The known positioning elements are, however, located after the bends ofthe connection pins.

First by locating the positioning element between the connection pinoutput Side of the connector and the anvil and by having the bores ofthe positioning element merges as directly as possible into therespective curve bending faces of the anvil the requisit pitch of thefree pin tips is obtained.

This ensures that the soldering legs of the connection pins are alignedin the correct position before they are bent, following which they arebent accurately at an angle of 90°, and these correctly bent legs arethen shielded and accommodated in the bending anvil.

The assembly, consisting of the connector, the positioning element andthe anvil can then be placed as one unit on the printed circuit boardwithout additional operations, prior to the soldering process.

The bending anvil is a separate component of the connector, so that theconnector housing and the anvil can be produced of different materials.This is advantageous because for the connector housing a cheapermaterial can be selected than for the anvil. The anvil can bemanufactured from material of higher quality in order to prevent theanvil from distortion during bending, while precise tolerances for thefinal shape of the bended tails can be met. Furthermore, the separateanvil has the advantage that it collects firstly all (possiblemis-positioned) pin tips by rectangular (frustum) lead-in's located infront of anvil/holder.

By subsequent relative movement of anvil/holder towards back-end ofconnector, these gathered tails are guided to move into channels with asubstantial straight portion; hence for the top row the tail issupported in the channel along four mutually perpendicular walls, andfor lower row this support is at least on an "U". This ensures that thestraight tail portion protruding beyond the anvil/holder, prior to the90° bend, is accurately positioned in the X-Y plane besides the Z-plane.This is a pre-condition to ensure good pin-tip true-position after the90° bend.

The bent portion of the tail is fully supported over a radiussedchannel, and not left un-supported as in prior art to allowdiscrepancies of varying radius bends and local skew in this area.

A slanting chamfer 28 to appropriately engage with mass-bend toolalignment during tail-bending operation.

In one embodiment of the invention, the outward directed bending face ofthe bending anvil is provided with grooves which extend at right anglesto the lengthwise direction of the bending anvil and each accommodate afree leg of a connection pin. In this way the connection pinsaccommodated in the grooves are shielded from external forces.

If the housing of the connector is provided with a number of rows ofconnector elements, and the connection pins thereof are arranged in rowsand in positions staggered from row to row, in one embodiment of theinvention the outward directed bending face of the bending anvil isprovided with grooves which extend at right angles to the lengthwisedirection of the bending anvil and each accommodate a free leg of aconnection pin, and the depth of the grooves intended for the connectionpins of one row differs from the depth of the grooves for the connectionpins of the adjacent row.

In order to ensure that the connection pins are bent accurately at rightangles with a predetermined curvature, the bottom of each groove passesgradually by way of a curved part into the appropriate bore in thepositioning element.

In order to prevent the connection pins from springing back slightlyafter bending thereof, the bottom of the part of the groove connectingto the curved part is deeper than the highest point of the face of thecurved part. This means that the pins can be pressed slightly furtherduring the bending in order to allow a more than 90° bent to correct formaterial spring-back.

The positioning element and the bending anvil preferably form one unit,so that mounting of the positioning element and the anvil can be carriedout in one operation.

In order to retain the free leg of the connection pins better in thecorrectly aligned position, the connection pins are placed in thegrooves at least locally in a press fit. This press fit is obtained byan under-sized (IDC-type) slot, the bottom of which forms the bendingsurfaces, to permit final location/trapping of bent tail as close aspossible to the appropriate holes in the PCB. This feature is ofrelevance to ensure good pin-tip true-position of slender right-anglebent tails, and also impart a rigidity to tail-structures of the finalconnector.

The forces of the bending of the connection pins in the grooves can bereduced, so that at least one wall of the grooves near the exit point ofthe free leg of the connection pins has a thickened part running atright angles to the bottom of the groove.

In an embodiment which is preferably used, the free leg of theconnection pins in the bent state grips behind at least one wallthickened part of the corresponding groove. This means that the free legwill rest with some pre-tension against the thickened part, with theresult that the accurately aligned position of the soldering end of theconnection pin is maintained, while in addition the soldering end cannotbe pulled out of the groove accidentally.

Opposite of the curved bending face the channel in the anvil has aslanting chamfer 28 to appropriately engage with the teeth of a massbend tool so that an accurate aligning during tail bending operation isachieved.

In order to absorb lateral forces during the bending operation, a fixedposition of the positioning element and anvil is maintained, through thefact that the face of the positioning element facing the connection pinoutput side of the connector is provided with flanges which extend atright angles to said element face and grip over the corresponding sidefaces of the connector housing.

The invention also relates to a bending mandrel for interacting with thebending anvil to bend the connection pins of the connector, whichmandrel is characterized in that the outward facing bending face of thebending anvil and the bending face of the mandrel interacting therewithcomplement each other in shape.

In one embodiment of the bending mandrel, the bending face of themandrel is provided with ribs standing up at right angles to the bendingface, the thickness of which ribs corresponds to the width of thegrooves in the bending face of the bending anvil, and the rib consistingof a first part with an edge running parallel to the bending face of themandrel and a second part connecting thereto and having a curved edge inwhich the radius of curvature corresponds to that of the curved part ofthe groove in the bending face of the bending anvil.

In a further development thereof, the curved part of the rib ends in apeak-shaped part, and at the side of the bending anvil lying oppositethe curved groove part the bore in the positioning element and bendinganvil for passing through of the connection pins widens out at an anglecorresponding to the angle of the outside of the peak.

Since the positioning element and bending anvil can be supplied loose,rights are hereby being applied for in respect of these components orthis combination of components which are intended for a connectoraccording to the invention.

The invention will be explained in greater detail below with referenceto the drawings. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a view of the connection side of an embodiment of theconnector according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a side view partially in section of the embodimentaccording to FIG. 1, viewed towards the side facing the printed circuitboard;

FIG. 3 shows a section along the line III--III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows a section along the line IV--IV of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 shows a section along the line V--V of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 shows a view of the positioning element and bending anvilaccording to an embodiment of the invention viewed at the insertion sidefor the connection pins, as indicated by arrow P in FIG. 7;

FIG. 7 shows a side view of the embodiment according to FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 shows a section along the line VIII--VIII of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 shows on an enlarged scale the sectioned part of the embodimentof FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 shows on the left side a cross-section of an embodiment of theconnector according to the invention and on the right side across-section through the positioning element and bending anvil to beinserted thereon;

FIG. 11 shows the parts of FIG. 10 inserted into each other;

FIG. 12 shows on the left the embodiment of FIG. 11 and on the right insection a bending mandrel for bending the connection pins of theconnector according to the invention;

FIG. 13 shows a finished embodiment of the connector and positioningelement and bending anvil according to the invention;

FIG. 14 shows a partial section through a contact element of theconnector according to FIG. 13 which is adjacent to and is situated inthe adjacent row;

FIG. 15 shows an embodiment of the connector according to the inventionwith sockets;

FIG. 16 shows a side view, partially in section, of the embodiment ofFIG. 15;

FIG. 17 shows a section along the line XVII--XVII of FIG. 16; and

FIG. 18 shows a section along the line XVIII--XVIII of FIG. 16.

FIGS. 1-5 and 9 show an electrical connector according to a preferablyused embodiment of the invention. This connector 1 comprises a housing 2of electrically insulating material, preferably plastic. The housing 2is provided with flanges 3, which are provided with fixing elements 4.Channels 5 containing contact elements 6 are accommodated in the housing2. These are seen most clearly in FIG. 9, which is drawn on an enlargedscale. In the case of this embodiment, two rows of channels 5 andcontact elements 6 accommodated therein are used. The positions of thechannels 5 of one row are staggered in the direction of the row relativeto the positions of the channels 5 in the other row. It is clear thatany configuration of channel positions is possible, e.g. one row or morethan two rows, with channel positions staggered or otherwise.

The contact elements are of electrically conducting material and havecontact ends 7 which in the embodiment shown are in the form of contactpins 7 for contacting sockets of a further connector. Said contact pins7 are situated in a space which is surrounded by walls of the housing 2,but are accessible from the contact side 8 for the sockets and a part ofa further connector. In this case it will be a further connector withsockets, and a part of the housing of the further connector isaccommodated in the abovementioned space in order to slide the socketsover the contact pins 7.

At the end situated opposite the contact pins 7, the contact elements 6have a connection end which is provided with L-shaped connection pins 9for mounting on a printed circuit board. The connection pins 9 consistof a fixed leg 10 which is connected to the corresponding contactelement 6 and a free leg 12 situated at right angles thereto. Saidconnection pins 9 extend outwards with the one fixed leg 10, from theconnection pin output side 11 of the housing 2 lying opposite thecontact side 8, in the direction of the contact element 6. The free legs12 of the connection pins 9 extend essentially at right angles to thelegs 10 thereof until they are beyond the connection side 13 of theconnector housing 2. The connection side 13 of the housing 2 runs atright angles to the connection pin output side 11 and the contact side 8of the connector housing 2.

At the connection pin output side of the connector housing 2, theelectrical connector 2 is also provided with a positioning element 14and a bending anvil 15, which in the preferred embodiment shown form oneunit. The positioning element 14 and the bending anvil 15 are made ofelectrically insulating material and serve to hold in position theconnection pins 9, which for that purpose are passed through bores 16(see in particular FIG. 9).

As already stated, the positioning element 14 and the bending anvil 15form one unit, i.e. positioning and bending element, which has theadvantage that this unit can be slid over the pins in one operation.

One side of the positioning element 14 thus adjoins the connection pinoutput side 13, while the fixed legs 10 adjoining the connection end ofthe contact elements 6 run through the bores or channels 16 of thepositioning element 14. The bending anvil 15, in this case the combinedpositioning and bending element, is used for bending the connection pins9 to an L-shape. Bending thereof is achieved by means of a bendingmandrel, a preferred embodiment of which will be described further on.During the bending, the fixed leg is retained in the bore 16 of thepositioning element 14. After the bending of the connection pins, thepositioning element 14 and the bending anvil 15 remain in the finalposition. Without further additional action, the electrical connector 1can be placed on a printed circuit board, the soldering ends of theconnection pins being inserted through holes in the printed circuitboard, following which said soldering ends can be soldered to thecontact faces on the printed circuit board.

The outward directed bending face 16 (see FIGS. 4 and 5) of the bendinganvil 15 is provided with grooves 17, extending at right angles to thelengthwise direction of the bending anvil. The width of the groovescorresponds to the width of the free leg 12 of the connection pin 9 tobe accommodated therein. Due to the fact that the connection pins 9 arefor the most part accommodated in the corresponding grooves 17, theconnection pins 9 are well shielded from external forces, with theresult that the correct position of the free leg 12 of the connectionpins 9 is accurately maintained. The depth of the grooves depends on thechosen configuration of the holes in the printed circuit board throughwhich the soldering ends of the connection pins 9 have to be inserted.In connection with miniaturization, a staggered configuration has beenselected, and the same applies to the configuration of the positions ofthe contact elements. Of course, any configuration is possible, e.g. aconfiguration of holes lying in one row in the printed circuit board, orvarious rows with holes which are not staggered. In the case of thepreferred embodiment shown in the figures, the staggered configurationhas been selected, and the depth of the grooves for the connection pins9 of one row are deeper than the grooves for accommodating theconnection pins in the other row.

The bottom of each groove 17 merges by way of a curved part 18 into thebore 16 in the positioning element. This produces a bending face for theconnection pins 9, which ensures well-defined bending of the connectionpins 9. The part of the groove opening out at the connection side of theconnector preferably lies slightly deeper than the curved part 18. Thismeasure facilitates accurate bending of the connection pins 9 at theposition of the bend between the two legs 10 and 12 thereof.

In order to retain the free legs 12 of the connection pins 9 (see alsoFIGS. 13 and 15) accurately in the correctly aligned position, the widthof the groove is at least locally so narrow that therein the free legs12 are clamped in the correctly aligned position after the bendingoperation. This narrowing can be continued in a manner not shown byproviding at least one of the walls of the grooves near the exit pointof the free leg 12 of the connection pins 9 with a narrow thickening ribpositioned at right angles to the bottom of the groove.

In the case of the embodiment shown in the drawing, a thickened part 19(see FIGS. 9 and 10) is provided in the walls of the grooves, behindwhich the free leg of the connection pins 9 grips after bending. Ifafter the bending operation the free leg 12 has a slight tendency tospring back, the free leg is pressed with a pre-tension against thethickened part, in which case an accurately aligned position of the freeleg of the connection pin is ensured.

The positioning element 14 is also provided with flanges 20 (see FIG.11) which during placing of the positioning element slide over theappropriate faces of the connector housing. In this way it is ensuredthat the positioning element 14 and the bending anvil 15 or combinedelement also continue to assume a well-defined fixed position duringbending of the connection pin. For, the lateral components of thebending forces are absorbed by the flanges. If, as in the preferredembodiment, the positioning element 14 and the bending anvil 15 form oneunit, the well-defined fixed position of the bending anvil 15 is therebyensured automatically without additional measures.

The connector housing 2 is also provided with fixing means 21 (see FIGS.1 and 3) for fixing the connector on the printed circuit board. Thismeans that any forces exerted on the connector do not have to beabsorbed by the connection pins 9 alone.

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 show the positioning element and the bending anvildesigned in one piece as a positioning and bending element 22. At theside facing the connector housing and from this side onwards, the bores10 are tapered in order to facilitate insertion of the connection pins 9into the bores 10. For purposes of clarification, the connection pins 9are shown in FIG. 7, and the connection pins 9 and a part of theconnector 2 are shown in FIG. 8. The curved parts of the grooves in thebending face of the positioning and bending element are clearly visiblein FIGS. 7 and 8. The positioning and bending element 22 has flanges 20,and projections 23 are provided in the inside wall, which projectionsinteract with slits in the corresponding walls of the connector housing2. This means that the positioning and bending element is also held wellin position in the lengthwise direction during the bending operation ofthe connection pins 9. Moreover, the lobes 24 on the underside of thepositioning and bending element 22 have the same function. It can alsobe seen clearly from these figures that the grooves are alternately ofdifferent depths.

The function of the positioning and bending element will now beexplained with reference to FIGS. 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14.

On the left in FIG. 10, the connector 1 is shown in cross-sectionthrough one of the connector elements 6, which connector has a housing2. The housing 2 is provided with two rows of channels 5, in which theconnector elements 6 are accommodated. These connector elements 6 areprovided with a lip 25 which engages on a wall of the channel 5 in orderto lock the connector element 6 in the channel. At the contact side, theconnector element 6 is provided with a contact pin 7 and at theconnection side is provided with a connection pin 9, which in FIG. 10 isstill in the extended position.

The positioning and bending element 26 is illustrated on the right FIG.10. This element 26 is provided with bores 16 for the accommodation ofconnection pins 9. The bores 16 merge by way of a curved part 18 intothe straight part 17 of groove disposed in the bending face for bending,by means of a bending mandrel, the connection pins 9 inserted throughthe bores 16, and for shielding and possibly locking the free legs ofthe connection pins 9. It can be seen clearly in FIG. 10 that thestraight parts 27 or the grooves 17 are lower than the highest point ofthe curved part 18. It can also be seen from FIG. 10 that the bore 16tapers (28) in the direction of the bending face at the other side ofthe curved part 18. The slanting chamfer 28 functions as a surfaceengaging appropriately with the teeth of a bend tool (see FIG. 12), bywhich an accurate alignment during tail bending operation is achieved.For the sake of clarity. the connection pins 9 are showndiagrammatically in the positioning and bending element 26 by its axis9'.

The bore 16 tappers at the pin input side or collecting adequately thepins even if some pins could have a mis-position.

The element 26 has flanges 20 which have to grip over the side faces ofthe connector 2. The lobes 24 serve to ensure the fixed position of theelement 26 on the connector housing 2.

Fig, 11 shows the manufacturing phase, in which the positioning andbending element 26 has been fitted on the connector housing 2. Theconnection pins 9 then run through the bores 16 in the element 26. Forthe sake of clarity, the bent position of the connection pins 9 isindicated diagrammatically by its axis 9'.

FIG. 12 shows on the left the assembled connector 1 and positioning andbending element 26 and of the bending mandrel 29 is shown on the rightof this figure. It can be seen clearly from FIG. 12 that the bendingface of the element 26 and of the bending mandrel 29 are complementary.In particular, the bending mandrel 29 is provided with ribs 30 and 31which stand up perpendicular to the bending face and fit into thecorresponding grooves in the bending face of the positioning and bendingelement 26. The rib 31 projects more relative to the face 34 than therib 30, because the groove for the bottom connection pin 9, which isalso shorter than the connection pin 9 lying above it, lies deeper thanthe groove for the top connection pin 9. The thickness of the ribs is afraction smaller than the width of the grooves in the bending face ofthe element 26. Each rib 30, 31 consists of a first part 32, 33 of whichthe outside edge runs parallel to the bending face 34 of the bendingmandrel 29. Connecting to the abovementioned straight parts 32, 33 ofthe ribs is a second part 35, 36 respectively, the edge of which iscurved with a radius of curvature corresponding to that of the curvedpart 18 of the groove in the bending face of the element 26. The curvedrib parts 35 and 36 end in peaks 37, 38. The faces 39 and 40 lyingopposite the curved faces of the peaks 37, 38 respectively lie at anangle which corresponds to the angle of the tapering parts 28 adjoiningthe bores 10 of the element 26.

In order to bend the connection pins 9 at right angles, the mandrel 29is pressed onto the bending face 16 of the positioning and bendingelement 26. During this bending operation, the connection pins 9 areguided along the rib edges 35, 32 and 36, 33 respectively and held inthe correct plane by the walls of the grooves in the element 26.

The finished assembly of connector 1 and a positioning and bendingelement 26 is shown in FIG. 13. In this case the connection pins 9 arelying confined in the grooves of the element 26. In this position thefree legs of the connection pins grip behind the thickened parts 19 inthe walls of the grooves 17, which can be seen clearly in FIG. 9.

FIG. 14 shows a section through a contact element 6 of the bottom row.

It can be seen clearly from the drawings that in the bent state theconnection pins rest against the curved parts 18 of the grooves in theelement 26. However, the free legs 12 of the connection pins 9 bent toan L-shape lie at a short distance from the bottom of the straight part27 of the grooves 17, in the bending face of the element 26. Thisdistance makes accurate bending of the connection pins 9 possible andensures that after the bending operation the free legs of the connectionpins 9 do not spring back too far, so that an accurately alignedposition of the soldering ends of the connection pins 9 is achieved.

FIGS. 15, 16, 17 and 18 show another embodiment of the connectoraccording to the invention. In the case of this embodiment contactelements 6 which are provided with sockets 39 at the contact side of theconnector 2 are used. In the case of this embodiment also, lips 25 arepunched out of the body of the contact element 6 and bent in order tolock the contact elements 6 in the corresponding channels 5.

The parts of the connector and the positioning and bending element whichare not mentioned in the description with reference to FIGS. 10-18correspond to identical parts of FIGS. 1-9, so that they will not bediscussed any further.

It emerges clearly from the above description that the invention isbased on the idea of combining the wafer function and bending function,with the result that a connector with bending wafer is achieved, bymeans of which the soldering ends of the connection pins of theconnector are held in the accurately aligned positions, andcircumstances during manufacturing of packaging, storage, transportationand mounting have no adverse effect on the correct alignment. Themanufacture of the connector, the mounting thereof on the printedcircuit board and the subsequent soldering process are also simplified.

I claim:
 1. An electrical connector, comprising a housing (2) ofelectrically insulating material with a connection side (13), aconnection pin output side (11) and a contact side (8) and provided witha number of contact elements (6) of electrically conducting materialaccommodated in channels (5) and, each with a contact end (7) situatedat the contact side (8) of the housing (2), for contacting a furtherconnector, and a connection end provided with an L-shaped connection pin(9), having a fixed leg (10) fixed to the connection end of the contactelement (6) extending from the connection pin output side (11) of thehousing (2) lying opposite the contact side (8), a bend and a free leg(12) for mounting on a printed circuit board substantially perpendicularto the fixed leg (10) and extending to beyond the connection side (13)of the housing (2) running at right angles to the connection pin outputside (11), and comprising a bending anvil having a curved bending face(18) for bending the connection pins (9) to an L-shaped, characterizedin that the bending anvil is separated from the connector housing (2)and is provided with a positioning element (14) of electricallyinsulating material between the connection pin output side (11) and thebending anvil, said positioning element (14) has bores (16) extendingperpendicular to the plane of the connection pin output side (11) of theconnector housing (2) for accommodating and supporting the fixed legs(10) of the connection pins (9) that the bores (16) merge into therespective curved bending faces (18) of the anvil such that the boreopenings are immediately adjacent to the beginning of the correspondingcurved bending faces (18); that the opposite bore openings are taperedand that the positioning element (14) is provided with aligning andpositioning means (20, 23) for aligning it to the connector housing (2),and the face of the positioning element (14) facing the connection pinoutput side (13) is provided with flanges (20) which extend at rightangles to said element face and grip over the corresponding side facesof the connector housing (2).
 2. The connector according to claim 1,wherein the curved bending face (18) of the bending anvil is the bottomface of grooves (17) having walls parallel to the axes of the bores (16)in the positioning element (14), each said groove (17) accommodating afree leg of a connection pin.
 3. The connector according to claim 1,wherein the connector housing (2) Is provided with a number of rows ofconnector elements (6), and the connection pins (9) thereof are arrangedin rows and in positions staggered from row to row, wherein the boreshave the corresponding staggered positions wherein the curved bendingface (18) of the bending anvil is provided with grooves (17) whichextend at right angles to the lengthwise direction of the bending anviland each accommodate a free leg (12) of a connection pin (9), andwherein the distance of the grooves (17) intended for the connectionpins of one row differs from that of the grooves (17) for the connectionpins of the adjacent row from the connection pin output side (11) of theconnector housing (12).
 4. The connector according to claim 2, whereinthe bottom of each groove (17) passes gradually by way of a curved partinto the appropriate bore (16) in the positioning element (14) and thateach groove (17) extends further to the plane of the connection side(13) of the housing (2).
 5. The connector according to one of claim 1,wherein the positioning element (14) and the bending anvil form oneunit.
 6. The connector according to claim 2 wherein the grooves areprovided with means for press fitting the connection pins (9) at leastlocally.
 7. The connector according to claim 6, wherein at least onewall of the grooves (17) near the exit point of the free legs (12) ofthe connection pins (9) has a thickened part running at right angles tothe bottom of the grooves (17).
 8. The connector according to one ofclaim 1, wherein in the bent position the free leg of the connectionpins grips behind at least one wall thickened part of the correspondinggroove.
 9. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the bore (16) ofthe positioning element (14) for accommodating the respective connectionpin (9) tappers at the insert side.
 10. The connector according to claim1, wherein the face or the bore (16) opposite of the bending face (18)of the anvil is constituted by a chamfer (28).